Reality was splintering in the adjacent chamber as Fenne and his companions watched with obvious glee in their eyes from the theater. When the silence had descended, the initial breakdown of reality stopped. From the void—a desolate realm of unreality ruled by a pitch blackness that seemed tangible, a faint shimmer, barely discernable to a curious observer, congealed, and Fenne smirked, his heart swelling with pride.

  Finally, he'd done it.

  Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by one of his companions.

  "Fenne," a man with sharp features said with a condescending tone, "while I can attest that you have accomplished something noteworthy by piercing the void, you will have to forgive my skepticism. As a fellow colleague, I'm sure you understand my perspective. However, as your supervisor, it is warranted as quite frankly, the organization cannot afford for this one to fail. We have invested too many resources in this excursion, and the backlash of exposure will be devastating for us. So, on behalf of the director, as his stand in, and on behalf of the respective D.O.E stakeholders, I implore you to sincerely answer my question. How exactly do you plan to navigate what is essentially an infinite realm of emptiness to find the artefact believed to host the exalted Lord?

  Fenne's eye twitched.

  'Jones, ever the sole cynical doubter of Fenne's resourcefulness within the DOE. They had many things in common. Both had been recruited into the DOE from the Astra Research Center after stagnation in their respective careers. Fenne, five years later than Jones. Jones was a senior in the DOE research wing then, and apparently the most talented one. Until the arrival of Fenne that is. What had began as a rivalry of mutual respect between two Astra research specialists of extreme talent had escalated into a borderline loathing as Fenne rose with the D.O.E ranks to become the most decorated Astra specialist of the D.O.E eclipsing Jones.The director; General Zaphatto, had then saved face for his nephew Jones and promoted him to his deputy. But even with the promotion of Jones to deputy director of the D.O.E, things had certainly taken a drastic turn. And not for the better. The greater influence and power of Jones within the DOE had only amplified his animosity, emboldening to become a constant hindrance to Fenne's more ambitious escapades. Often he masked his contempt behind budget concerns or outing some circumstancial loopholes, and Fenne had had enough of it.

  'Well, no more!' Fenne thought, noting that a few other shimmers had joint the initial one like little stars in the night sky.

  It was time to usher in a new era— that of Lord Eclipse, and his first discipline Fenne, while the rest faded in their shadows.

  From within his cloak, he withdrew his staff. It was a short blue shaft, about an arm's length. Along the shaft, it was etched in numerous coronet glyphs, and at one end, it smoothly transitioned into a golden ball.

  He left the theater and entered the chamber.

  Fenne spread his hands outward feeling for the tiny glows within the archway to the void. And then he pulled onto the Astra feeding it to the tiny sparks, enhancing their glow. He divined the sparks, searching for a connection. It took some time but eventually he found it. A little tug on his essence, virtually impossible to miss, but he knew. Fenne channeled more Astra, and the void changed colour, fading from pitch blackness as white began dominating. He activated a memory stone in the corner of the chamber using telekinesis. A live recording of him would be playing in the conference chamber to numberous DOE members now.

  "My brothers and sisters, I greet you all in the name of our divine savior, Lord Eclipse." He quietened, letting the words sink in. "It has been a great pleasure of mine working for the organization for these past years. The D.O.E has been like a family to me that has rallied behind me everytime in every step of progress I have made. It has challenged me to become better and within its halls, my false perspective of reality crumbled and my mind was reforged anew in its fires of truth. That is what the world has been lacking for the past centuries. The truth. Today, they will receive enlightenment. The whole world will learn the true meaning of supremacy. For today, I shall bequeath upon you all, the greatest of honors only the greatest among us shall ever receive. The enemy will fall as we climb out of the shadows we have been forced to retreat into, and henceforth, we—the whole world shall embrace the light. And those who dare to resist will cradle the ashes of their former empires before the dawn descends."

  A humanoid silhouette formed along the surface of the white void, it's shape getting sharper and larger every second, and Fenne's eyes shone brighter with gleaming zeal. His voice radiated through the chamber and turned more emphatic.

  "All hail, for the Lord's return!" Fenne shouted and he knelt on all fours.

  A figure splurged out of the archway and collapsed on to the floor face first with a disgusting splat. A cold sensation settled at the bottom of Fenne's stomach, his heart lurched, and his insides shifted uncomfortably. He slowly raised his head, hoping against all odds that his endeavour had been successful.

  It was not.

  A small naked body lay beneath the archway unmoving, its skin pale, showing no signs of vitals. That was not Lord Eclipse. Fenne's panic soared. A wave of weakness swept across his body along with all his hope and ambitious dreams, leaving behind a sense of defeat and utter hopelessness.

  Jones' sneer came from the theater adding the insult to injury, "I knew it. It was all too good to be true. Fenne, always so righteous and arrogant. As if you held all the secrets of the universe. Look at you now, you've had us move across the world on a wild goose chase to demonstrate what—? That you can summon us a corpse out of the void? Now the organization can see you for what you truly are! An utterly useless tool! A good for nothing!" The words were venomous and assaulted Fenne like a kick to the stomach when he was already down.

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  A thunderous bang sounded from above, like a raging god had descended upon them and the walls shook. An alarm sounded in the distance. The base was under attack. Still, Fenne could not summon the courage to stand up and leave, dazed by the ongoing effect of his failure. The three figures rushed out of the theater in the corner of his eye. Barely a minute later, Brother Kubbarch rushed in. "Fenne!" He shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

  Fenne heard the words over the rumbles coming from above but his mind was barely in the present. Brother Kubarch entered the chamber he was in, rushing to his side and pulling him up. He took Fenne's hand and dragged him towards the exit without Fenne resisting.

  "I failed," Fenne whispered in disbelief.

  Brother Kubbarch turned and gave him and empathetic look. But he kept silent.

  The huge hallways of the D.O.E base were chaotic as members rushed in every direction in panic, fleeing as debris fell from the ceiling. Fenne finally found the courage to form a single coherent thought.

  "We need to release the creature," he said with a low voice to brother Kubbarch as they passed a massive shaft with two giant doors at the other end.

  Kubbarch barely paid attention to his words, his mind focused on their escape, his reply was automatic, "the verghes will be released as the enemy engages, like we planned."

  Fenne halted. "No! We need to release the Voguer."

  Kubbarch said with a skeptical look, "Fenne, are you sure, we can barely control the creature."

  "Yes, let them deal with it while we escape!"

  Kubbarch sighed, "Fine, we'll release creature then."

  The turned and entered the massive shaft, quickly reaching its large doors leading into huge chamber. The doors, marked with reinforcement runes and layered with securing enchantments, were the only thing standing between them and the most fearsome creature in the world. Fenne destroyed a dozen of those runes, and turned. Almost immediately, a bang sounded from the doors as the creature tried to break out of its prison. The doors held. For now. Yet a crack formed along one nonetheless. Fenne and Kubbarch fled. By the time they reached the main hallways, the creature had shattered the door if the primal scream that reverberated through the hallways behind them was anything to go by.

  ---

  King Oman's flew in the air heaving, his body crackling with intensifying arcs of power like a storm, and his rage swelled with a every passing heartbeat. It wasn't long before he neared the area the D.O.E scoundrels were hiding under. As he reached the area,— a vast plain of savannah that retained its natural state, untouched by people and animals alike and thus a suitable location of cover for a sleazy organization like the D.O.E— he rose. Higher and higher the King climbed, increasing the distance between the ground and he by a significant margin.

  Then, he descended from the heavens with the speed rivalling that of lightning.

  Oman's fist smashed into the ground with the force of ten nuclear warheads, and a deafening explosion of a supernova followed his violent assault. In the wake of his strike, a huge trench was carved into the ground, and all the flora wiped out. It was as if an open cast operation had seized after eventually exhausting the land its resources. But Oman wasn't finished.

  Over and over, his fist fell, crashing into the floor like a massive asteroid, and digging deeper. Rocks were crushed and reduced to nothing before his might. Consistent crashes of thunder accompanying his every strike. It was as if a mad God of chaos had descended upon the world.

  Eventually, Oman reached the D.O.E barriers and with a single strike broke through into a massive cavern.

  It was a trap.

  The moment his feet touched the ground, a rune lit up, siphoning his strength.

  _'Oh, how nice! They prepared for my entrance'_ he thought with a grin.

  A yell broke into the carven. “We got him! The War Savage! Everyone, let's take him down! Give him everything you've got! Don't hold back!”

  _'And that would be the welcome party I suppose,'_ Oman's grin widened as he tried to move but his strength failed him. The rune circle brightened around him countering his abilities. At least his would-be assailant had planned adequately.

  Six figures emerged from the shadows of the carven wearing masks. One–obviously the leader–stepped forward to the edge of the Rune circle. He raised a staff, pointing at Oman.

  “King Oman! Or would you prefer War Savage?” He sneered the words with a righteous confidence. “I couldn't care less seeing as you are about to die anyway. The only thing I want to make sure of is that you remember is this!” He removed the mask, revealing a surprisingly youthful face. "Take the memory of the one who orchestrated the moment of your undoing, to your grave."

  Oman blinked in confusion.

  _'They thought that this... was going to kill him?'_

  He eyed the youth with a look disappointment.

  The young man's eye twitched.

  "Any last words?" He said with a sharp edge in his tone and a glean of victory in his eye.

  Oman's tone was poised and calm as he replied. "Matter-of-fact son, I do." Then, his voice boomed through the cavern, causing its walls to vibrate as it slammed into them. Even the green cloaks of the young man and his companions at the back drifted backwards, as if the wind had suddenly picked up. "How stupid could you possibly be?"

  The man jumped backwards in fear and shouted.

  “Kill him! Release everything you have. Don't stop until you're tapped out!"

  In response, a flood of myriad spells and waves of power combinations fell on to Oman's body, and assaulted him like a ravenous fire. His own power rose from the depths of his body, and rushed to push against the tide. A cloud of swirling energy floated around him aiming to destroy him and while it succeeded, his power countered, rebuilding what was destroyed almost instantly. He waited, taking his time within the hostile cloud as the six exhausted their pools of power one by one until the last– the apparent leader– was forced to yield.

  "Did we do it? Is he dead? "The leader asked with an uncertain tone.

  The silence of the carven was the only response he received.

  Oman spoke.

  "I commend your strategy. It was well planned and exquisitely executed." His tone was sober. The cloud cleared to reveal him still standing in the center of the rune, his body fine as silk. His opponents' eyes snapped wide, wild with fear. "However, you made one grave mistake. You let your arrogance severely undermine your judgement, deluding yourselves capable of taking me on with your budding Prime powers." He sighed. "It is such a shame this mistake you'll have to reflect on, in your afterlives."

  Oman's body exploded with torrential amounts of power, the rune circle flashing a blinding white before snapping as it buckled under his unrestrained power. His aura filled the carven like a hurricane, and cracks formed in the walls as they threatened to crumble from the pressure.

  He would make this quick.

  In a flash, he swept across the carven, moving so fast it seemed as if he teleported. Six heads flew in the air and rolled on the floor, in his wake. The necks they had been torn from still squirting fresh blood all over the place. When he reached the entrance connecting the carven to a hallway, Oman shook his head. He despised killing weaklings. It always left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He supposed these D.O.E rats would have to make an exception.

  He entered the hallway with a single goal in mind: destroy anything foolish enough to stand in his path.